Graham Rodger (born 1 April 1967) is an English football coach, former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and scout.
As a player, he was a
defender from 1984 until 1998 for
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
,
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
and
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
before finishing his career with a six-year stint at
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
, where he retired in 1998 following the club's promotion to
Football League First Division. Since his retirement from the playing side of the game Rodger has remained with Grimsby, firstly holding the position of community coach and later assistant manager and caretaker manager. In 2006, he had a brief stint as the club's permanent manager but was dismissed after 5 months in charge. Shortly after his dismissal he was brought back to the club once again taking up his role in the community.
Playing career
The highpoint of Rodger's playing days was his
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
win in 1987. Playing against the favourites
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
,
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
secured a memorable extra-time victory. Rodger featured as a substitute for the injured captain
Brian Kilcline
Brian Kilcline (born 7 May 1962) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a centre half for Notts County, Coventry City, Oldham Athletic, Newcastle United, Swindon Town, Mansfield Town and Halifax Town, and was famous for his ...
late in normal time, and played an important part in the winning goal with a superb pass through several players to
Lloyd McGrath which resulted in the goal seconds later.
Rodger transferred to
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
in 1992 and was an ever-present defender for the club for the next six seasons. He was a regular for the club up until his final season, in which he was a part of the historic 1997/1998 Promotion team. He was released by manager
Alan Buckley
Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside.
As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...
in the summer of 1998, and after training with
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
he retired from professional football.
Management and coaching career
After retiring from playing in 1998, Rodger was appointed Sports in the Community Officer at Grimsby a year later in 1999. Rodger later moved onto the coaching staff at
Blundell Park and following the dismissal of manager
Lennie Lawrence
Robin Michael Lawrence (born 12 December 1947) is an English former football manager, player and football consultant who is non-executive director at EFL League Two side Hartlepool United.
Lawrence was a semi-professional at Croydon, Carshalto ...
and his assistant
John Cockerill in 2001, the new Town boss
Paul Groves appointed Rodger as his new Assistant Manager. Rodger was then given the managerial position on a caretaker basis when Groves was sacked in 2004. In his first game in charge of the club, The Mariners defeated local rivals
Barnsley 6–1, with 4 goals coming from the ever-popular
Phil Jevons. However, despite the good form under Rodger he was overlooked for the job and it in turn went to
Nicky Law. With Grimsby suffering relegation to League Two a few months later, Law lost his job, and in stepped
Russell Slade
Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage.
Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...
.
On 5 June 2006, Rodger would finally get his break, and was appointed as the club's full-time manager, when Slade departed to join
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
. However after a poor start to the season he was sacked on 5 November after five months in charge, with Grimsby hoping for promotion, the club found itself in the bottom third of the table. His replacement was to be
Alan Buckley
Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside.
As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...
who in turn brought Rodger back to then club again as the Sports in the Community Officer, a previous position he had held from 1999 to 2001. Former Town midfielder
Gary Childs was also given the same job.
On 6 July 2017, he was appointed as chief scout for Grimsby. He departed during the 2022–23 season.
Honours
Player
Coventry City
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
Winner: 1987
*
FA Charity Shield: runner-up
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
Grimsby Town
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
Winner: 1998
*
Division Two Play Offs Winner: 1998
Individual
*Grimsby Town Player of the Year: 1997
Coach
Grimsby Town
*
Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
play-off runner-up
2005–06
References and notes
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodger, Graham
English men's footballers
Scottish men's footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Luton Town F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. managers
Anglo-Scots
Living people
1967 births
Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff
English football managers
Footballers from Glasgow